Five Tips for Success as a Home Based Recruiter

written by: N Nayab•edited by: Rebecca Scudder•updated: 5/19/2011

The job of the home based recruiter is popular owing to its apparent simple nature and the seemingly non-requirement of much professional skills. In practice however it takes great skills to succeed as a home based recruiter. Read on for the critical factors for success as a home based recruiter.

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A recruiter or a “headhunter” works to find qualified candidates for a particular company’s job openings. Many companies do not conduct this search process in-house as this is not a core business activity and the HR Department would not like to be distracted from their critical business related activities. Such companies outsource this job.

Since headhunting can be done effectively with an internet connection and telephone, this makes for an ideal work from home preposition. Here are five critical factors, the mastery of which helps you excel as a home based recruiter.

1. Effective Networking

The key to success as a home based recruiter is effective networking. Networking includes being socially and professionally active, getting to know more and more people and developing a working relationship with them. In the recruiting industry, personal contacts that come through networking are a major source of work. Maintaining an active social profile also helps in sourcing difficult clients for niche jobs when the need arises.

Even networking with other recruiters helps. At times, you might have a list of candidates for a certain position when another recruiter has a requirement for a candidate in a similar position. You could offer your ready database to the other recruiter, and both of you could split the payment received for virtually no work done. On top of that, the company would be happy for a job accomplished in double-quick time, and one additional candidate you painstakingly included in your database would be grateful for a placement. Numerous such win-win situations become possible with networking.

The ways of successful networking include attending social and professional meetings, being active in various social networking sites and groups, and establishing a personal rapport and conversation with the maximum possible number of people.

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2. Developing a Niche

A home based recruiter can work to recruit for just about any position or industry, but it is wise to carve a niche. It is better to select the niche in a familiar industry, for awareness of the way the industry functions places you in a better position to source and shortlist the ideal candidates. An effective shortlisting saves valuable time during the selection process, and is likely to delight your clients, who will then come to you when the next vacancy arises.

Another advantage of establishing a niche is that you will soon become familiar with the people working in this industry, which eventually helps in establishing credibility as a recruiter and in sourcing candidates based on personal contacts.

Developing a niche also helps in networking as other recruiters are more likely to approach you when they want help in your niche.

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3. E-mail and Telephone Etiquette

The home based recruiter’s job will invariably involve an email campaign at some point of time, either in search of clients or in search of candidates. When sending unsolicited emails, it is imperative to make the purpose of the email clear in the subject, and provide an “opt out” option in the email body to block further messages. This enhances credibility with clients and candidates, and becomes invaluable in establishing long lasting relationships. This also prevents servers from identifying you as a spammer.

A home based recruiter will invariably resort to cold-calling much of the time. In such cases, it is important to first state your business in the briefest possible manner and then ask the candidate whether it is the right time to talk. If the candidate is busy, get an appointment for another day or time. If the candidate is not too interested, it is better to leave the candidate until some other time in the future. Constantly calling up potential candidates and asking them whether they are interested in a job change is likely to leave a negative impression.

4. Remaining Organized

Simple as it sounds, one of the critical requirements for success as a home based recruiter is remaining organized. Keeping appointments, prompt replies and not missing deadlines are the cardinal rules of success and even a single instance of failure in such aspects can have a debilitating effect on your future work prospects from the client.

It is also pertinent to keep an organized record of your work and build up a database of candidates for easy search and retrieval when suitable vacancies for such candidates arise. It is also important to keep such a database updated. For instance, a candidate recruited by you would have gained additional experience three years down the lane, making him a ripe candidate for another vacancy that might have come up by then. This, however, will not be much help if your database does not reflect the additional experience.

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5. Go That Extra Mile

The home based recruiter’s job usually ends with scheduling the interview for the short-listed candidates. One way of distinguishing yourself from the scores of other recruiters is by offering additional services such as following up on enquiries, sending notes of regret, organizing written or on-line tests and even going one extra step and making or negotiating offers on behalf of your client. Such extra services not only go a long way in influencing the client to prefer your services, but also help in establishing a better rapport with candidates.

The key to success as a home based recruiter is patience, determination, and perseverance, and the home based recruiter who applies these traits and systematically works on the abovemetntioned five tips for recruiters stands a greater chance of success.